OUR VIEW: Heart of Smyrna's revival key to identity

Here's a question many may have trouble answering: Where is the heart of Smyrna?

We'd like to say the center of town is the Front Street and Lowry Street area. There's a great coffee shop in Carpe Cafe, a longstanding doughnut shop in M&E's Donut Palace, a local furniture store in Joe B's and one of the best Italian restaurants in the county in La Tavola.

But these jewels are surrounded by a growing number of check-cashing spots, convenience stores and empty buildings. The latest long-time business to close up shop was Regal Furniture, which had been there for more than 50 years before closing last year. Rhonda Allen, a business owner and Rutherford County commissioner, accurately described it as a "downtown anchor."

But if Regal was near the center of Lowry Street, neither end of the street paints a pretty picture. Coming into Smyrna from La Vergne, drivers are greeted by a handful of gas stations, some of which came under scrutiny by the local beer board and State Rep. Mike Sparks for selling synthetic drugs. Coming in from Murfreesboro, there's a long-vacated Jack-in-the-Box and an empty Kroger building.

That's the bad news.

The good news is a new Lowry Street Improvement Project Executive Board is quickly working on a solution.

For starters, Smyrna has attracted Gold's Gym to fill the vacant Kroger building. With the traffic that Gold's will bring, a restaurant is sure to bite on the empty Jack-in-the-Box building. And just across the street is local favorite, The Omni Hut, which opened in 1960.

Beyond that is the steady revival of the Front Street area, starting with the roundabout project several years ago, but also including the aforementioned businesses as well as Allen's gift shop, The Market.

Among the biggest historic benefits to the downtown area is the old train depot. While it has been vacant for years, it's a throwback to Smyrna's history as a railroad community.

The depot has been underutilized, but has been used occasionally for events, such as wine-tastings during the annual downtown celebration Depot Days.

As a solid first step, the town will be completing water and sewer hook-ups to the depot by March 15. Additional sidewalks by the depot will be ready by May 1. Restrooms, benches and any necessary painting and sealant work will be done by the end of May.

It looks like by summer, the question about the heart of Smyrna may have a good answer.

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OUR VIEW: Heart of Smyrna's revival key to identity

Here's a question many may have trouble answering: Where is the heart of Smyrna?